The present invention relates to a process for preparing a meat product from an animal carcass. In particular, the present invention relates to a method for cutting and boning a pork loin to produce pork loin cuts.
Pork carcasses are typically butchered into several main cuts or sections including the loin, shoulder, ham and belly sections. A loin section is that portion of a side of pork remaining after the shoulder, ham, belly and fatback have been removed. The loin section may also include the blade bone with its overlying flesh. Several individual cuts or portions may be taken from the loin section of the hog including bladeless loin, center cut loin, boneless loin, Canadian back, back ribs and country style ribs. The bladeless loin is the remaining portion of the loin section after the blade bone and related cartilage and overlying flesh have been removed. The center cut loin is prepared by removing the shoulder end and the ham end of the loin section to leave not more than eight ribs. Chops are typically prepared from the bladeless loin and the center cut loin by making cuts generally perpendicular to the longitudinal length of the loin.
Alternatively, the loin section may be used to prepare boneless loin, Canadian back, tenderloin, back ribs and country style ribs by cutting the loin section longitudinally from the shoulder end of the loin towards the ham end of the loin. The tenderloin is generally prepared by cutting the loin section longitudinally to remove the meat lying ventral to the back ribs towards the ham end of the loin. The remaining loin section includes the back ribs and the semispinalis muscle. The semispinalis muscle is generally the meaty tissue above the back ribs opposite the tenderloin. Boneless loin cuts and the back rib cuts are generally prepared by cutting or deboning the remaining loin sections between the semispinalis muscle and the back ribs, adjacent to the back ribs, to form the boneless loin cut and the back ribs cut. The boneless loin cut is identified by International Meat Purchaser Specification (IMPS) No. 413 while the back rib cut is identified by IMPS No. 422. As conventionally known, the boneless loin cut generally includes the entire semispinalis muscle separated from the back ribs. The boneless loin cut is typically further processed to provide Canadian bacon, boneless pork loin roast, boneless rolled and tied roasts or butterfly pork chops.
As conventionally known, the back rib cut consists of rib bones and related intercostal meat. Each back rib section is intact and includes portions of at least ten ribs. Back rib cuts are generally sold as a single intact rib section which may be prepared and consumed with various sauces. Although the back rib cut is merely a by-product from deboning the loin section, the demand for the back rib cuts has increased dramatically in recent years due to the increase in demand for "finger food", such as buffalo wings. However, because back rib cuts typically contain only intercostal meat between the rib bones, conventional back rib cuts do not include a substantial amount of meat. In addition, the intercostal meat is not easily accessible and is generally more difficult to consume. Consequently, conventional back rib cuts are difficult to consume and do not provide a substantial amount of meat or servings to meet the increased demand for the back rib cuts.